"Wow!! I'm happy you've met Big Gun. And personally, in such a dramatic way too," Luciana squealed, then fell silent for a while.
It's midday on Saturday, some hours since the party and my encounter with Mr. Montoya. The evening of the party had started out chill as I did what I was instructed to do. Then a man from a gaming table called me over. I went over and asked if he was enjoying his evening and if he would like anything else. He looked around the table at his companions, and they all laughed.
Then he turned to me; in a flash, he grabbed me and shoved me onto his lap roughly. And then he ferociously began planting sloppy, nasty kisses on my bosom. I reacted immediately when I got my breath back. I stood up, slapped him hard across the face, and hurled every curse word I knew at him. I haven't been able to recover from the series of encounters that followed.
"You must be excited, right?" Luciana asked.
Luciana and I were headed to meet Doña Esperanza for the day's instructions. Lucy, as she suggested I call her, has been jabbing non-stop about Big Gun. It would've been funny if I weren't shaken myself.
"Excited? Maybe. The good kind? Absolutely not. He's the freaking Montoya. I wonder why I hadn't put the pieces together earlier," I grumbled.
"Don't be too hard on yourself. Given that his face has never once been on the news, except, of course, for his name and mansion. Your meeting with him was meant to be a surprise anyway, and look how it worked out. Splendid," she said, sounding proud of herself.
"I'm glad you liked it," she said, blushing. "So how do you see him? What's your take?" she asked. I shrugged my shoulders, and she went on ceaselessly about how hot Mr. Montoya was.
We neared the building where I first met Doña Esperanza, which, thanks to Lucy, I came to know was Doña Esperanza's house.
When we arrived at the door, Lucy knocked. Strange. She was always out before anyone reached the door. After a second knock, Lucy turned the knob without permission.
I walked into Doña Esperanza's living room after Lucy, and the sight stole my breath away. Its ceiling was so high up, like it was initially built for giants, and we were just dolls in it. The room was a statement of power that made my lungs tighten. The ceiling was decorated with heavy wrought iron chandeliers that looked like they belonged in a medieval castle. The room had an expensive smell.
To my right was a dark wood bookshelf decorated with several leather-bound volumes. The furniture was all velvet and heavy oak, arranged on a rug so thick and serene that it felt like a sin to step on it with my work shoes.
"I'll be right back," Lucy's small voice pulled me back to reality.
She walked in the direction of one of the room's doors and disappeared before I could talk her out of her brazen approach. Alone, I looked around and noticed some tiny cameras.
I wondered why Lucy had opened the front door without a go-ahead from within and why she had further gone through that door as if she were familiar with the place.
Before I could draw conclusions, I heard laughter from the door Lucy had gone through. The door opened wide enough for me to deduce it was a kitchen. Out came Doña Esperanza, followed by a blushing Lucy. Not long after, he stepped out, shutting the kitchen door behind him: Mr. Montoya. Again, he was dressed in all black, but in a t-shirt and shorts this time. His t-shirt showed off tattoos that had previously been hidden in the clothes I had seen him in, and his muscles were more obvious.
He looked rather unreal, given his choice of clothing.
"Good day, sir," I bowed slightly as I greeted him.
He just cocked his eyebrows at me briefly before turning to address Doña Esperanza.
"So, I'll leave them with you if it's okay," he said.
"Of course. You know they're always welcome here," she replied.
"Carlitos, Serena, I'm leaving," he yelled, not loud but controlled.
The next thing I knew, tiny footsteps sounded before two kids appeared from a staircase I hadn't noticed. He crouched to their height, kissed their foreheads, and left.
"Alice, your manners, where are they?" Doña Esperanza reprimanded.
"Forgive me, Doña. Good day," I said, immediately taking a bow.
A small hand waved from the corner of my eye. It was the little girl from the other day, and she had a brother.
"You look beautiful in that dress," I complimented, and she blushed.
Before we could go into introductions, Doña asked to walk with me.
"I assume you're satisfied after constituting a nuisance on Thursday. Weren't you instructed on how to be composed and controlled during the event? But you chose to humiliate this household." The calmness in her voice was confusing.
Then I explained to her all that happened with the handsy man at the party.
"Didn't Marisol or Luciana give you prior instructions to follow in such a case?" she asked coldly.
"Not at all, ma'am," I answered.
"Next time that happens, you throw your pride out the window or sweep it under the carpet and entertain as many who find you attractive. Failure to do so attracts grave consequences. I hope that's clear," she demanded.
"Yes, Doña Esperanza," I replied.
"Good, seeing you have stayed seventy-two hours already as your contract stated, I'll be giving you further rules. No phones during shifts, no talking to the guards, and never, under any circumstances, enter the East Wing study…" she paused to eye me for a while.
"...because I'll be assigning you to clean the East Wing. Luciana will show you your assignment. You'll clean all the offices and rooms there except, of course, the study. Is that understood, Alice?" she asked.
"Yes, ma'am, very understood," I replied. I mean, who cares about some secretive study anyway?
We walked in silence back to her house. There, Lucy was carrying and tickling the little girl as she giggled. Upon seeing us approach, Lucy dropped the girl on her feet.
"Mami Buela, can I follow Tía Lucy and her friend for their rounds? Please don't say no; I won't cause any trouble," the little girl addressed Doña Esperanza.
"Okay, darling, but come right back here before dinner, okay?" Doña Esperanza asked the little girl.
Doña Esperanza made a call to one of the estate cabs to come pick us up after the little girl made her promise. While she was on the call, an earlier image of Mr. Montoya, Doña Esperanza, the kids, and Lucy came to my mind. It was a close-knit circle. As the outsider, I had observed a connection between them all. If not, why would Doña Esperanza leave Mr. Montoya's little girl in Lucy's care?
While in the car, the little girl placed her hands in mine and asked for my name. I told her and asked for hers.
"My name is Serena Montoya, but my daddy calls me muñeca," she replied.
"What lovely names! It's nice to meet you, Serena," I told her.
"Thank you, Tía," she said.
"Do you have a dollhouse?" I asked Serena.
"Yes, of course," she beamed, further telling me all about her dollhouse and its occupants.
Lucy was suddenly withdrawn.
We got down at the east wing of the building, and Lucy led the way while I followed, holding Serena's hand. The rooms in the wing were few: three rooms and two offices. Lucy instructed me on what to do before she left with Serena.
I cleaned a portion of the rooms, but I was going to need to come in tomorrow to finish cleaning. While I waited for Lucy, Serena, and the cab, my mind went to Montoya and his inquiry about any of my male relatives. Funny. If I had one, would I be working tooth and nail?
A thought crossed my mind to opt for the vacancy instead. As I played with the thought in my head, I heard the opening of a door. Scared to the bones, I hoped it was Lucy trying to play a fast one on me.
I heard a different sound again. The curiosity in me made me trace the sound to a room I hadn't noticed while I was cleaning. The room's door was slightly ajar, and I moved closer to have a peek.
It was no ordinary room. Across the room was a huge wall covered with hundreds of photos, including surveillance shots and newspaper clippings. Red strings crisscrossed the wallboard, pinning the photos together like a spider's web.
On the desk not far from the board were files, some stacked high and others scattered all over the place.
This sight wasn't a billionaire's room; it was the room of a precise hunter. I stepped back from the door as if it were a portal opening to doom.
My curiosity had finally transformed my position from a cleaning maid to a witness of the Montoya secrets. Then I heard heavy footsteps, which indicated they belonged to a man. I looked around for a means of escape or, at the very least, a hiding spot.
I smelled his cigar and scent before he made an appearance.
"Good evening, sir," I greeted him and made to leave through the corridor bend he came from.
Not much luck, because he blocked my path and looked at the ajar door behind me. In a dangerous whisper, he spoke one chilling sentence.
"Curiosity is a dangerous trait for a maid in this house, Alice."